Background Checks for Coaches

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I am going to use this one from now on! ? So they only pay if they get the job right ... then the final decision is set by employeer when they get the background check and everything clears? Am I right or wrong? Thanks but I am going to use this from know on when hiring! They pay! No brainer...well now its a no brainer after reading your post! Bahahahahha!!! Thanks Infinity!

Yes, the applicant only pays once they are tentatively offered the job. After we are offered a job we go to central office and pick up the employment paper work. The background check is one of those forms we need to return. If I quit and go to a different district I have to pay again for a new background check. Even our substitute teachers must complete a background check at their own expense. I think it is an absolute necessity for any person working with kids.
 
Also, our background checks are only $20 in Indiana and they come from the state police department. Anyone can request a background check on themselves, so it's not like something only for schools. I had to get my own background check every year I was going into the classroom during my undergrad. The prices you guys are quoting are pretty steep to me. Are you using an independent business to do background checks?
 
i really like the idea of having the applicant pay. just another way to help ensure the person really wants the job and is ok with a background check.
 
Yes that is awesome... one more question... since the background check from the State will it cover if the person is from out of state? Last question I promise! Thanks Infinity
 
Yes that is awesome... one more question... since the background check from the State will it cover if the person is from out of state? Last question I promise! Thanks Infinity

I'm not sure exactly. But a cop can find out if you if you have a warrant from another state just by looking up your info at a traffic stop, so I assume the state police would have access to anything from any state that might pop up in a background check.
 
In canada it is quite common for coaches to get what is called a vunerable sector check which involves getting finger printed at the local police station and can take up to six months. This is usually required for even volunteering with children and the elderly
 
We all have background checks at our gym...coaches and directors. I also teach so I already had one through the school board that I work for. We required that the coaches provide us with a copy of the official background check from the police station. They paid for it themselves. We will all provide new ones every year or upon request.
 
The National Cheer Safety Foundation offers free risk management assessment for any cheer gym. If one of our Safety Ambassadors are in your area we will teach CPR, first aid, AED training to all of your staff for free as well. Call us for more information at 1-800-596-7860 to learn how safety doesn't hurt.
 
I know our local board of education offers them. They are only $40.00 and it's the same background check all of our
teachers get.
 
I am definitely in favor of coach accountability!

Maybe they could make a coaches USASF record available to the gyms they are applying? For example a list of all the gyms that coach worked with and was certified through.
It wouldn't eliminate criminal behavior, but it could provide the information for ALL the gyms that coach has been at, and gives the employer access to references that coach may not have wanted seen.

Regardless, I completely think something needs to be implemented to protect the kids in our industry!
 
Late to the convo, I know...
As a volunteer coach at a high school, I had to get a vulnerable sector check done, and pay about $20 for it (I suspect the school board has a discount bulk rate).

I'm also the pastor of a church, and I know that we couldn't get insurance AT ALL for our board for third-party liability if we didn't do vulnerable sector checks on our staff and volunteers in high-risk positions (work with kids or the vulnerable elderly). We go through a third-party company (for confidentiality; the company only tells us if certain things show up, which we have defined for them, I really don't care if my 45-yr-old Sunday School teacher got busted for pot when she was 17...), they charge $45 per volunteer, more for employees.

I know that insurance in the cheerleading industry is mostly about physical injury, but how many gyms would be completely destroyed by being named in a lawsuit charging sexual harassment or abuse took place by one of the gym's employees, and that the gym didn't do due diligence in the hiring. I'm kind of surprised that the insurance companies aren't demanding it.

Financially, if for no moral reasons, doing the check makes sense.

But come on, we all got into this because we love kids, right? So I say do whatever we can to make sure the kids are safe with us.
 
CheerProfessional, an independent voice for the cheer marketplace, looks forward to providing you expert answers to questions just like this and tools to simplify your job as a coach or gym owner. We will launch early this summer with a web presence and quarterly publication. Follow us on facebook.com/CheerProfessional and twitter.com/CheerProCo so you can be the first to know when we go live.
 
CheerProfessional, an independent voice for the cheer marketplace, looks forward to providing you expert answers to questions just like this and tools to simplify your job as a coach or gym owner. We will launch early this summer with a web presence and quarterly publication. Follow us on facebook.com/CheerProfessional and twitter.com/CheerProCo so you can be the first to know when we go live.

There is something really annoying about going into every single thread and seeing the same thing over and over and over....
 
Fingerprints are an interesting idea. But I think the aclu would be all up on someone's butt if that was tried.

Sent from my Droid Incredible
I do know that ever school system I coached for asked for fingerprints (typically taken at the local PD, which was so much fun). If they can ask for it, why can't allstars? Between that and a background check, if someone has something to hide, you might find out right then and there when they withdraw their application to coach instead of submitting the requested items.
 
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